Dijon Garlic Roasted Potatoes

A celebration is in store today. My new camera arrived. Two weeks ago, I dropped it and, for me that’s like losing oxygen. The last two weeks I’ve been using my husband’s SLR camera and well, he tried to be nice about it, but he also “hovered” over me while shooting. I totally understand that. I’m known to take food out into the rain to get a shot I want.

So tonight, it’s fillet mignon accompanied by these delicious roasted potatoes made with dijon mustard, thyme, garlic, olive oil and panko breadcrumbs. I took my inspiration from a recipe used to make these lollypop lamb chops. And, I was so anxious to use the camera, preparation needed to be fast and easy.

I didn’t really measure anything and I want to encourage you to make meals like this, where you just pull out the ingredients and put it together without over thinking or striving for perfection. Just taste along the way and add more of this or that as you decide. This is that kind of recipe. This is the way I cook most of my meals. If you can trust yourself to trust yourself, you can eat delicious every night.

This dish was submitted to Cathy at Noble Pig for the Potato Ho Down. I wanted to try something besides rosemary roasted potatoes, which I love and the whole world loves.

That led to using mustard, garlic and thyme and then the panko breadcrumbs. The breadcrumbs will not stick all over and you don’t want them to. Just a little here and there gives a surprisingly nice crunch. I saved time making enough marinade for both the potatoes and filets and I saved time throwing the mushrooms in the oven with the potatoes. A green salad with a vinaigrette dressing with lemon was perfect and brought it all together.

To add to my nice day, my mom surprised me with a beautiful white soup terrine (thrift store find for my blog) and baked us a cherry pie and I felt so good, I wanted to say, “life is just a bowl of cherries.”

Dijon Garlic Roasted Potatoes Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 pound red potatoes, scrubbed, halved or quartered into even sized pieces
• 1 pint of bella mushrooms, dry-scrubbed, stems cut (optional)
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed, chopped
• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, or 1 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1/4 cup olive oil (use more if needed)
• 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup oil cured olives
• squeeze of lemon
• sea salt, freshly ground pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Wash potatoes, cut in similar sizes, some will be halved, some quarters. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Mix garlic with mustard, add thyme, panko breadcrumbs and olive oil as needed.
   I used a pestle and mortar. Using your hands mix with potatoes.
4. Mix the mushrooms separately. The breadcrumbs will not evenly coat the potatoes and that is what you want.
   You will have just a little crunch.
5. Roast at 400 degrees on baking sheet, cast iron griddle, or baking stone. (I used a baking stone. After 20 minutes turn and this would be the time to add mushrooms.
6. Reduce to 375, continue to bake for another 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
7. Add in olives the last 10 minutes. When you remove from oven, squeeze some lemon over potatoes.

Notes: You could just as easily use this recipe with another herb, such as parsley, oregano, rosemary.